Key-ring.



L. M; MORDEN. KEY RING.

APPLICATION FILED 00125, 1905.

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PATENTBD NOV'. 5, 1907.

UNITED STATES LUCENA M. MORDEN, OF WATERBURY, CONNECTICUT.

KE Y-RIN G.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 5 1907 Application filed October 25. 1905- Serial No. 284,297-

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, LUCENA M. MonDEN, a citizen of the United States, of 59 Grand street, Waterbury, county of New Haven, and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Key- Rings fully described and representedin the following specification and the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the same.

The present invention relates to that class of rings in which a separable section is formed with a pintle at one end whereby it may turn laterally, and the meeting ends or separable ends of the sections, are provided with means for locking them from displacement.

In the present invention, a slot is extended longitudinally through the joint of the sections (that is, through both of the meeting ends for a suitable distance), and transverse pins are inserted across the slot adjacent to the joint, and a latch pivoted upon one of the pins and having a notch forming a hook to engage the other pin.

The details of construction which are claimed herein will be understood by reference to the annexed drawing, in which Figure 1 is an edge view of the ring; Fig. 2 is a side view of the ring with the latch closed, the parts adja cent to the latch being in section; Fig. 3 is a side view of the ring with the latch pushed outwardly to project the lifting toe from the slot; and Fig. 4 is a side view with the latch and the movable section shown open in full lines, and the movable section shown closed in dotted lines. Fig. 5 is a section of the latch upon an enlarged scale, showing the stud m.

The body a of the ring is shown with the movable section I) jointed thereon by a pintle 0, so as to turn laterally or outwardly, as shown in full lines in Fig. 4:.

The meeting ends or joint of the sections are shown with a projecting stud d on the section b and a recess e upon the body a, the elasticity of the parts permitting the recess to be sprung over and into engagement with the stud during the closing of the movable section.

A slot Z is shown extended across the joint of the sections in the plane of the ring, and pins 9 and h are shown extended across the latch respectively in the body a and section b.

A latch is pivoted upon the pin 9 and formed with an eccentrically disposed notch i which produces a hook j arranged to engage the pin h upon the section b.

The eccentricity of the notch causes the hook j to crowd hard on the outer side of the pin as the latch is closed, but to clear the pin slightly when wholly closed. Such crowding of the hook past the pin h guards the hook from any voluntary movement outward past the pin.

The body of the latch is formed with a projection k which, when the hook is closed, as in Fig. 1, extends slightly inside of the ring, and also with a toe l which lies normally within the outer side of the slot when the hook is closed, but may be lifted a little clear of the outer side of the ring when the projection is is pushed outward into line with the inside of the ring, as shown in Fig. 2, which is readily done by the finger. The hook may then be caught by the finger nail and the latch lifted, as in Fig. 4, to disengage the hook from the pin h, which wholly frees the movable section and permits it to be swung upon its pintle to a suflicient degree for applying keys or similar articles to the ring.

As the toe llies normally within the slot (see Fig. 1) there is no projecting part upon the latch which can be accidentally caught by anything to open it, and such feature forms an additional safe guard to the latch.

A third safe guard is provided by forming a stud m upon one side of the latch where it may press elastically against the side of the slot f during the opening of the latch, and thus operate, if the hook should wear loose upon the pin h, to retain the latch securely in the slot by its frictional resistance.

Reference to Fig. 5 shows that the slot in the body part 11 forms an elastic fork, the sides of which are slightly pressed apart when the stud m is moved between them, and which operate to hold the latch from any accidental displacement outward.

- A fourth safeguard which operates wholly independent of the latch, consists of the projecting stud d and recess e which operate normally to hold the movable section closed, and would thus continue to operate in case the latch were opened by any cause. The latch of the key-ring is thus safe-guarded in every way from accidental displacement, and its construction provides a very secure fastening for the ring, as the latch must be wholly removed from the slot, as shown in Fig. 4, before the movable section can be moved in any degree.

The eccentricity of the hook j is in practice too slight to represent upon the drawing without exaggeration, although the drawing itself is made upon an exaggerated scale; but to illustrate such eccentricity, a dotted curve n is placed on Fig. 4 tangential to the end of the hook j, and is concentric with the pivot g of the hookv It will be seen that the inner end of the eccentric notch 1' lies outside of the dotted curve, thus showing graphically the position of the slot, and that the point of the hook might press hardest upon the pin h in passing the same, although the pin would be loose when in the inner end of the slot. The clearance of the pin in the slot cannot be readily illustrated in Fig. 2, on account of the smallness of the scale; but it should be understood that the pin is represented by the White space inside the circle h, and such White space is drawn smaller than the Width of the notch 1'.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention What is claimed herein is:

1. The combination, with the key-ring having" the body a and the section b jointed thereon by pintle c so as to turn laterally and backwardly, and the joint of the section having the slot 1 extended longitudinally therethrough, of the transverse pins g and h inserted across the slot upon the members a and 11 respectively, and thelatch ll pivoted upon one of the pins and having the notch t to engage the other pin, whereby the latch is concealed in the slot when the sections are locked together.

2. The combination, with a key ring having separable sections and a slot extended longitudinally through the joint of the sections, of transverse pins inserted across the slot adjacent to the joint and a latch pivoted upon one of the pins and having a hook to engage the other pin, and a projection upon the latch extended within the ring when the hook is locked upon said pin, whereby the hook may be pushed outwardly.

3. The combination, with a key ring having separable sections and a slot extended longitudinally through the joint of the sections, of transverse pins inserted across the slot adjacent to the joint and a latch pivoted upon one of the pins and having a hook to engage the other pin and a projection upon the latch extended within the ring when the hook is locked upon said pin, and a toe whereby to lift the hook from the slot and concealed normally within the slot until the hook is pushed Outwardly by pressure upon the said projection.

4. The combination, with a key ring having separable sections and a slot extended longitudinally through the joint of the sections, of transverse pins inserted across the slot adjacent to the joint and a latch pivoted upon one of the pins and having an eccentrically disposed notch forming a hook to engage the other pin, whereby the hook is crowded past the pin in the closing movement and clears the pin when wholly closed.

The combination, with a key ring having a movable section with a pintle whereby it may swing laterally, and the separable ends of the sections provided with a stud and recess to lock elastically, and a slot extended longitudinally through the joint of the sections, of trans versepins inserted across the slot adjacent to the joint and a latch pivoted upon one of the pins and having an eccentric notch forming a hook to engage the other pin, the latch having a projection extended within the ring when the hook is closed, and a toe adapted to lift the hook from the slot and concealed normally within the slot until the hook is pushed outwardly by pressure upon the said projection.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

LUCENA M. MORDEN.

Witnesses r LAWRENCE L. Lnwrs, A. H. TYRRELL. 

